The Way it Ended and How it Began
by Cheeseburger of Doom
Summary: It started in fighting, and it ended in fighting, but that doesn't mean it hurt any less when it was all over. [MomoxKamio]
1. Part 1

A/N: Ah-- I'm not entirely sure about the scoring of the wonderful game of tennis, but in this fic (the second part, which will be posted soon) I make an attempt at it -- so please forgive any errors on my part. This was originally going to be Kamio x Kaido, but something happened...Now, on with the fic!

****

The Way it Ended and How it Began

It began with fighting. That, he reflected, was probably the fighting. Since it had begun with fighting, it had ended with fighting. As simple as that.

Of course, the fighting at first had been caused by rivalry; friendly rivalry, really. Every time they met, they bickered, but they really hadn't hated each other at all; in fact, they'd each enjoyed the other's company. It had taken months of fighting to realize that.

And so, they'd started spending more time together on purpose, instead of just chance encounters once in a while. They'd gone places together, gone to each other's houses, arranged tennis matches against each other, even arranged to play doubles together on the street courts -- and it had all been quite fun. For a while.

They had spent the entire time bickering, though, because that friendly rivalry never went away. That was the way it had been from the beginning, and that seemed to be the way they wanted it to stay.

Things had gotten a little different, gradually. Their first kiss had stemmed from an argument about who was the better kisser. He couldn't even remember how that had come up in the first place. They hadn't been able to figure out the winner, either, because they'd both been a bit stunned.

After that, they kissed more often. In public, they acted the same as always, but sometimes a touch on the shoulder would linger just a touch longer than usual, and their hands would brush a bit more often.

For a while, it was like that. They spent the entire time bickering, though, because they didn't want anything to change. They wanted to keep that friendly rivalry forever, because that seemed to be what was making it work.

Things changed anyway, though. They began to expect more of each other. Other people began to notice something different about them, and somehow, they ended up being declared an official "couple".

And they'd realized that yes, they were a couple, where before, they'd just been a little more than friends...

Their attitudes had changed slightly, enough to make things different. They'd both known what they had wanted out of a partner -- and it seemed that neither fit the other's description.

They'd bickered more and more -- like an old married couple, some said -- and that was how it ended. In fighting. It was friendly rivalry no more; it was the constant arguing of a couple who could no longer get along.

Everything had changed. Slowly, but it had changed just the same.

And now it was over.

Kamio missed Momoshiro, he really did. He missed how it used to be, when they were still friends, before things had started changing. It had been what, almost three years? They were both in their second year of high school now...Three years was a long time to be together, and to break up after that...It was hard to adjust to life without the bickering, hard to adjust to life without the constant presence of Momo. They went to different schools, but they had still managed to see each other almost every day anyway.

Of course Kamio had become attached to him -- but the fighting had become too much for both of them. He hoped that Momo had become attached to him too, and he liked to think that maybe Momo was feeling just as miserable as he was at this moment. He wanted Momo to be happy, sure -- but he hoped that Momo wasn't over him just yet.

With a sigh, Kamio turned a corner, and made his way home. There was really nothing to do without Momoshiro around. It had been two weeks already, but he was still not ready to move on.

Just when had he started liking the idiot this much? He hadn't even realized it until after they'd split up. Three years counted for something, he guessed. Three years of yelling with that idiot...

Kamio was so wrapped up in his brooding that he wasn't paying any attention to where he was going. That was how he managed to walk right into someone, who was jogging on the sidewalk.

"Watch where you're going!" Kamio yelled. In truth, it was probably his fault, but at the moment, he didn't care. He wanted to take his frustrations out on someone, and this person had arrived before him just in time.

The jogger replied with a hiss. Kamio's eyes widened, and he actually took time out to _look_ at who he had bumped into. He recognized him, even though he hadn't seen him in quite some time.

"Kaido! The snake shot guy!" Kamio had really disliked this guy at one point. Because of his attitude, because he'd won their match...there were many deciding factors. In fact, he'd begun his rivalry with Momoshiro because he'd thought at first that Momo was Kaido, in a rather silly chain of events.

And Kaido had come up more than once in conversation with Momo. There had been a period of time where Momoshiro had complained about the "baka mamushi" non-stop. That had finally ceased about halfway through the first year of high school.

Kaido hissed at Kamio again. "You need to watch where you're going more than I do," he muttered, and he made as if to push past Kamio.

"Hey, wait. I want to ask you something."

Kaido blinked at him. He knew who Kamio was, of course, but he had no idea why Kamio would want to ask him something, especially since they hadn't seen each other it quite some time. They'd never been friends, and they'd never really been enemies either, so what was the point?

"Did you and Momo ever...have something between you?"

Kaido was unable to hide his surprise and shock at the question that seemed to come out of the blue. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"He complained about you a lot. He said you fought all the time."

"So did the two of you, from what I've heard," Kaido pointed out.

"Yeah, well, we dated for a year and a half. We fought all the time, and then we got together. You two fought all the time, so..."

"...oh." Kaido turned his back on Kamio. "There was never anything like that between that baka and me." He jogged away.

Kamio knew it already. He'd been jealous and worried for a time -- but he'd trusted Momoshiro...But it seemed that relationships started in fighting were doomed from the beginning.

Kamio had to wonder for a moment what would have happened if he'd realized that Momoshiro was not Kaido on that day, three years ago. Would all of it have happened then? Well, Momo did steal his bike, so Kamio probably would have chased after him anyway, but...

"Thanks," Kamio said, even though Kaido was already gone.

He'd been happy for a time, and he was glad that he'd had the chance to be with Momo...even though it hurt, now that it was all over.

~~~~~


	2. Part 2

Part 2

Kamio really didn't expect to run into Kaido again, but he did. The very next day, in fact. They ended up having an almost-conversation (as much as Kaido seemed capable of) which led to them having an argument, which led to them going to the street tennis courts together for a game.

They were both still key players in their high school tennis teams. It had been a long time since they'd last competed against each other, and they were both much stronger now, so they were eager to see who was the better player. They both hated losing.

Kaido was still rather fond of the snake shot -- and Kamio still played in his rhythm. The game was a challenged, and it was fun; and for the first time in weeks, Kamio was enjoying himself without Momoshiro. It was nice.

Kaido won. Kamio yelled at him, and insulted him for a while, and demanded a rematch. Kaido just shrugged and said, "Sure, why not."

The Kaido of now seemed to have less of a temper than the Kaido of about three years ago. He didn't rise to Kamio's insults, he just shrugged them off. Kamio liked that attitude. It was far different from the attitude of a certain someone that he was trying very hard to forget...

After that, Kamio and Kaido saw quite a lot of each other. Sometimes they played tennis, sometimes Kamio went jogging with Kaido. They formed a strange sort of friendship. Nothing like what Kamio and Momo had shared, not at all. It was refreshing.

Kamio knew it wouldn't change into something else, since Kaido already seemed to have someone like that to him in his life. Kamio recognized that look, even in someone whose face could be as scary at times as Kaido's.

Kaido actually admitted one day to having a strange sort of fascination with Kamio at one point during their junior high school days. That was the reason he'd been there at Kamio's match against Sengoku; the reason he'd been staring at the red-headed player, trying to memorize every step. The revelation embarrassed Kamio somewhat, but Kaido assured him that there was nothing like that in him now.

They enjoyed each other's company well enough. Kaido never talked about Momo, which suited Kamio just fine. He spent more and more time with Kaido because of that. His other friends mentioned Momo once in a while, asked him how he was doing; asked him if he was over Momo yet.

Of course he wasn't. So it hurt when they asked. Even Kamio's supposed best friend Shinji didn't get it -- three years of yelling at that idiot wouldn't go away, just like that. Sometimes Shinji would tell him that he'd seen Momo at the tennis courts, had played against him...Kamio didn't want to hear it.

Spending time with Kaido almost helped him to forget, even though in a weird way, Kaido reminded him a little of Momoshiro...and maybe that was the real reason he wanted to spend time with his newfound friend, after all.

~~~~~

Kamio realized he really shouldn't have come here. This was, after all, where he and Momo had spent most of their time. He and Kaido had wanted to play tennis though, and this was the closest place; it hadn't even occurred to Kamio that seeing it again would bring up a painful wave of memories.

It hadn't occurred to Kamio that Momo might still come here, sometimes. Yet, there he was, seated on a bench, talking with someone...Kamio recognized him as Yanagisawa, from St Rudolph. There were a few familiar faces there, people that Kamio had played tennis with quite often when he'd come here with Momo...He hadn't been here in a while. Not since the break-up. Momo looked just the same as ever...Of course he did, it had only been two months, after all.

Two months. It felt like an eternity. Kamio had almost started to believe that he was getting over Momo; that the fighting at the end of their relationship had ruined everything for him...

But he 'd been wrong.

He prayed that Momo wouldn't look over. He backed away. 

"I don't want to play here," he told Kaido. Kaido seemed to understand, from the look on his face. They turned to go, but as luck would have it, Momo chose that moment to look up.

He didn't say anything, but he met Kamio's gaze. Kamio tried to hide his look of pain; tried to hide the turmoil in his mind, but he had a feeling it was evident there. 

Momo looked over at Kaido, then back to Kamio, and then he turned and resumed his conversation as if he'd never seen Kamio.

It hurt. Not even a word...It hurt so much.

"I've changed my mind. I do want to play here. I want to challenge that bastard over there to a match!" Kamio yelled, heatedly. Momoshiro looked up at him again, eyebrows raised...and then his eyes narrowed.

"I accept," Momo said.

A nervous silence filled the air. Everyone in attendance knew what had happened between them. They'd been there to see it.

"There are too many people here now for just singles, I think that we should play doubles, that would make more sense."

Kamio glared at Shinji for interrupting. Some best friend he was...

"I'll play with him --" Shinji pointed at Kaido, "and you two can play together."

"What? I'm NOT going to be his partner!" Kamio and Momo yelled simultaneously. They glared at each other.

"This is familiar..." muttered Fuji Yuuta, who was seated on the other side of Yanagisawa. Fuji Syusuke was seated beside him -- and he laughed. 

"This could be interesting."

"Come on, prove that you two can still play like you used to," Shinji said. "Unless you've both lost your touch?" Of course, that appealed to both Momo and Kamio's pride, and of course, they had to agree to play together after that.

"What if Kaido doesn't want to play?" Kamio demanded, in a last attempt to save himself from being paired by the guy he hated the most.

"I'll play," Kaido said, with a shrug, dashing his hopes. "That's what I came here for, anyway."

There was no escape now. Kamio and Momo took up their positions on their side of the court, and made a point of not looking at each other.

"So, how long did you wait before you started dating the mamushi?" Momo asked. His voice was quite venomous, and Kamio wondered why Momo was calling someone else viper, when he was the snake himself!

"I'm not dating him," Kamio growled. "Not that it's any of your business, you bastard."

"Kaido to serve, da ne!"

Somehow, Yanagisawa had ended up being their referee.

"Even if I was dating him, who could blame me? Anyone is better than you!" Kamio exclaimed. He rushed for the ball -- and collided with Momo, who was going for the ball at the exact same moment.

On the other side of the net, Kaido's eyebrow twitched. He wished they would leave him out of their domestic dispute. Especially if they were going to insult him.

"Fifteen-love, da ne!"

"You're not exactly much of a catch yourself," Momo said, glaring at Kamio...and missing the ball that came his way.

"Thirty-love, da ne!"

"Just shut up and watch the game!" Kamio exclaimed. "We're going to lose at this rate because of you!"

"Because of me? You're neglecting the game just as much as I am!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Forty-love, da ne!"

"I should never have agreed to play doubles with you!"

"That's the only smart thing you've said today!"

"Game, Ibu-Kaido pair! Change court...da ne."

"Would you quit with the da ne?!" Kamio and Momo yelled at the same time. That caused them to glare at each other. They switched courts with Shinji and Kaido, who were shrugging at each other.

"Why exactly did you force them to play together?" Kaido asked.

"Just watch," Shinji replied. "You'll see."

"You're a lousy player! You just missed another ball!"

"It was on your side, baka!"

"Don't call me baka, baka!"

"I don't know why I ever dated you in the first place!" Kamio exclaimed.

"I don't know why I ever liked you!" Momo retorted.

"Yeah, well, you're as bad at kissing as you are at tennis!"

This seemed to offend Momo greatly. He threw his tennis racket to the ground, game forgotten. "Oh really?"

"Yes, really!"

Momo grabbed Kamio by the shoulders, and proceeded to give him the kiss of the century. The onlookers gaped.

When they pulled apart, they stared at each other for about five full minutes.

"I missed you," Momo whispered.

"I missed you, too."

There was a chorus of "awws". Momoshiro and Kamio glared at their audience.

"Now pick up your damn racket, Momo, and let's kick their asses already!"

"Yosh!"

"See what I mean?" Shinji said to Kaido. "It was only a matter of time."

"Huh. Those two are really quite stupid," Kaido said.

"That's why they're perfect for each other."

~~~~~

"Game set and match, da ne -- Kamio-Momishiro pair, six games to three, da ne!"

"See? I knew we'd win when you started to pay more attention," Momo said.

"Me pay more attention? You were the one missing all the easy returns!"

"What are you talking about? I hit everything, when you weren't in my way!"

"You were in _my_ way!"

"I don't really hate you, you know," Kamio said, when they ran out of things to complain about.

"I know. I don't hate you, either."

"Should we give it another try?"

"I was hoping you'd say that."

"Hah, well then why didn't you say it first, baka?"

"Because I wanted you to say it, baka."

Momoshiro and Kamio walked away from the street tennis courts, bickering at each other, with hands intertwined. This was how it had started, and also how it had ended -- in fighting. So it only made sense that this was where they would begin again...and hopefully this time, it would be for keeps.

~owari~


End file.
